Purpose 1) To assess the usage of CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS) in the UK market research industry, and 2) To evaluate the use of CAQDAS as a supplement to paper-coding in market research. Design/methodology/approach CAQDAS usage was assessed by a questionnaire, sent to a sample of 400 UK market researchers. The second part of the research is a case study of a research experiment. We conducted focus group research into online grocery shopping, supplementing a paper-coding based analysis with a further analysis based on computer coding. Findings Usage of CAQDAS in commercial market research is very low at only 9%. Our research suggests that CAQDAS can be a useful supplement to traditional methods. Using computer software we were able to 1) mine the data for more detail; 2) clearly identify minority views; 3) and produce a useful resource for future research.
Research limitations/implicationsThe survey response rate was 38%, but only 13 respondents used CAQDAS. Generalisation from a single experiment is problematic; our findings are affected by the research topic, research brief and the two research analysts.
Practical implicationsThe study has important implications for commercial qualitative market research. Repositioning CAQDAS as supplementary, rather than as an alternative, circumvents arguments about time pressure, and highlights its data management role. Originality/value This is the first large scale survey of qualitative research analysis in the UK market research industry. The case study describes an approach to CAQDAS that is innovative and relevant to commercial market research.
Abstract. Twitter is an established social media platform valued by scholars as an open way to disseminate scientific information and to publicly discuss research results. Scientific discussions on Twitter are viewed by the media, who can then pass on information to the wider public. Social media is used widely by geoscientists, but there is little documentation currently available regarding the benefits or limitations of this for the scientist or the public. Here, we use the example of two 2018 earthquake-related events that were widely commented on by geoscientists on Twitter: the Palu Mw 7.5 earthquake and related tsunami in Indonesia and the long-duration Mayotte island seismovolcanic crisis in the Indian Ocean. We built our study on a content and contextual analysis of selected Twitter threads about the geophysical characteristics of these events. From the analysis of these two examples, we show that Twitter promotes a very rapid building of knowledge in the minutes to hours and days following an event via an efficient exchange of information and active discussion between the scientists themselves and the public. We discuss the advantages and potential pitfalls of this relatively novel way of making scientific information accessible to scholarly peers and lay people. We argue that scientific discussion on Twitter breaks down the traditional “ivory tower” of academia, contributes to the growing trend towards open science, and may help people to understand how science is developed and, in turn, to better understand the risks related to natural/environmental hazards.
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